The drought situation continues to worsen and famine still remains a possibility. An estimated 6.2 million people, over half of the population, remain in need of food assistance, out of which 2.9 million are in need of urgent support (IPC Phase 3 ‘Crisis’ and 4, ‘Emergency’), while 5.5 million are in need of health services and 4.5 million people are lacking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services.

The spread of measles continues to be of serious concern, with 4,499 suspected cases reported since the beginning of the year, out of which 52 percent were reported in children between 1 and 4 years of age.

The Gu rain season normally starts in the month of April, and the first two weeks have seen moderate rainfalls in parts of Somaliland and the southern regions of Somalia, while no significant rains have been reported in Puntland. While the rains have provided some immediate relief and have led to increased water levels of the river Shabelle, with more rains, AWD/cholera is likely to be on the rise as well.

Displacements: Drought-related displacement continues to rise throughout the country, with most of the displaced people moving from rural to urban areas or other rural areas where they anticipate to receive aid. As of 7 April this year, 536,000 persons were internally displaced due to drought since November 2016.

AWD/Cholera: Currently, 23,566 cases of AWD/cholera have been reported and a total of 538 related deaths have occurred since the beginning of the year. The Case Fatality Rate is still at a worrying 2.3 per cent, far above the 1 per cent emergency threshold across the country, while the Bakol region is reporting an alarming rate of 4.9 per cent.

Reproductive Health: The devastating drought continues to threaten the lives of 607,000 pregnant women around the country. More than 130,000 of them may require critical and urgent assistance. Somalia already has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world; one out of every 22 women is likely to die due to pregnancy or childbirth-related causes during her life course.

Protection: Recent reports show that 84 percent of GBV survivors are IDPs. This is shocking and given the amount of displacement that the famine is causing, we need to highlight this linkage. Security: Over the past ten days, at least a dozen attacks have resulted in 28 civilian deaths and 31 injuries. These were all launched in civilian areas including restaurants, markets and minibuses, in direct violation of the international humanitarian law. In 2017, 337 people have been killed or injured by 87 improvised explosive devices incidents – the vast majority of which resulted in civilian deaths and injuries.